Musar к Ийова 4:26

And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Avot 3:1), "Keep your eye on three things, and you will not come to sin [...] From where did you come? From a putrid drop. And to where are you going? To a place of dust, worms, and maggots. And before whom are you destined to give an account and a reckoning? Before the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He." The explanation of the content is [that] when you think of from where you came, your spirit will be humbled and you will hate pride. And when you remember where you are going, you will scorn the world, recognize that its superfluous luxuries are nothing and only be involved with it for the service of the Creator, may He be blessed. And when you put into your heart in front of whom you will be giving a reckoning, fear of the Heavens will be upon you. And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Genesis Rabbah 9:5), "'And God saw all that He had made, and found it very good' (Genesis 1:31) - this ('very good') is death." For even death is good, so as to subdue spirits, that there be fear of God upon the hearts and that they not make this world into the main one. But there are people that do not give time to their souls to understand their ends, because of their preoccupation with acquisitions of the world - like the matter that is stated (Job 4:21), "Their cord is moved, and they die, and not with wisdom." Its explanation is, is not their cord (yeteram, which can also be understood as their excess or advantage) - their money - moved from them in their move; for behold they have no benefit from it [when they die], yet it lost much good for them. For it caused them to die without wisdom, as they did not show wisdom to understand their end, to rectify their souls and prepare provisions for their journey, - like the matter that is stated, (Deuteronomy 32:29), "Were they wise, they would think upon this, gain insight into their future."

I believe that he found such an allusion in the word נא used by Moses when he declined to accept the mission himself. That word seems superfluous at first glance. The Zohar alludes to it in his commentary on our portion when he quotes Job 4,7: זכר נא מי הוא נקי אבד ואיפה ישרים נכחדות, "Consider, what innocent man ever perished? Where have the upright been destroyed?" The following is the text of that commentary: "When Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai studied this portion of the Torah, his son came to him and asked: 'What would have happened with the reincarnation of the souls of Nadav and Avihu if there had been a Pinchas in the world at the time they died (they were two sons of Aaron who died prematurely)? Had Pinchas been born after these sons of Aaron died, their souls could have been re-incarnated in Pinchas's body. Pinchas then could have rehabilitated these sons for whatever shortcomings they had displayed during their first life on earth. Assuming however, as we must, that Pinchas had been born prior to the death of Nadav and Avihu, and that he therefore already had been equipped with a soul, how could the souls of Nadav and Avihu have been re-incarnated within Pinchas?'" Rabbi Shimon answered his son that we are dealing here with a supremely guarded secret of the way G–d works, and that the truth is that at the time the two sons of Aaron died, their souls did not enjoy the protection of the "Holy Rock," i.e. the emanation called מלכות (lowest of the 10 emanations). We know this because the Torah makes a point of mentioning that they had no children at the time they died (Numbers 3,4). They had diminished G–d's image by not having married and sired children as was incumbent upon them. As a result, they were unfit to serve as High Priests. At the time, Pinchas proved his jealous concern for G–d's honor to the myriads of the Jewish people when he displayed the bodies of the adulterers he had speared with his lance, his soul fled from him when he saw the tribe of Shimon approach him in a threatening posture vowing to take revenge for their prince Zimri whom Pinchas had slain. The two unattached souls of Nadav and Avihu, which had not yet found a resting place, entered Pinchas and restored him to life. This enabled Pinchas's own soul to unite with the souls of Nadav and Avihu. In this way Nadav and Avihu attained the position of High Priest which they had been intended for if their lifestyle had justified it. Pinchas, as it were, benefitted from the souls of Nadav and Avihu, and this helped him become High Priest (after the death of his father Eleazar). This is what is alluded to in Job 4,7. "The innocent (Pinchas) had not perished, nor had the upright (Nadav and Avihu been destroyed)." This is also why the Torah in Numbers 25,11 and on some other occasions describes Pinchas as both the son of Eleazar (his father) and as the son of Aaron, i.e. the father of Nadav and Avihu.

This is what our sages said: "if he were a Baal Teshuva (penitent), do not say to him 'remember your former deeds...' if sickness befalls him do not say to him in the way the friends of Job said: "Remember, please, who ever perished, being innocent?" (Job 4:7). If traveling merchants ask you for grain, do not tell them 'go to such and such who sells grain', and you know that he never sold grain in his life" (Bava Metzia 58b).

Such forbearance is easy only to the ministering angels who do not have among them these traits, but not to human beings "who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust" (Job 4:19). But it is a decree of the King, and the scriptural verses state in explicit and clear language, requiring no explanation: "you shall not hate your brother in your heart" (Vayikra 19:17), "you shall not take vengeance nor bear a grudge against the members of your people" (Vayikra 19:18).

This is what the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded the king: "And the Torah shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, so that he will learn to fear the L-rd, his G-d" (Devarim 17:19). This teaches that the fear is only learned by uninterrupted study.

There are numerous references to this in our Midrashic literature. Shemot Rabbah 30,11, quoting Job 23,3-4, "would that I could find Him, reach His dwelling place, I would set out my case, משפט, before Him, fill my mouth with arguments," explains this in the following parable. A drunken prison guard rebelled, opened the gates to let the prisoners escape, cursed the picture of the ruler, and demanded to see the king, threatening that he would tell the king to his face what he thought true justice should be. He even went as far as stoning the king's image. He was shown the ruler sitting on a platform, dispensing punishment to a lady of aristocratic bearing, he observed the king handing down a verdict against his provincial governor, etc. At that point the palace guard became frightened and apologised, explaining that his drunken stupor had been the reason for his outrageous conduct, which included not recognising his king when he saw him. Similarly Job 23,4. When Job cursed the day he was born (Job 3,3/4) he in fact cursed the angel in charge of who will be born when and under what mazzal. This angel is called לילה. Later on Job reflected how G–d had punished Miriam for speaking out against Moses (Numbers 12,10); he further observed how G–d had punished Moses not allowing him to enter the Holy Land because he had struck the rock instead of merely speaking to it (Numbers 20,12). He also noted that G–d had blinded Isaac (for having loved the wicked Esau), see Genesis 27,1. He realised moreover that G–d had punished Abraham for having asked: "how do I know that I will inherit?" (Genesis 15,8) G–d had responded by telling Abraham that his descendants would be slaves in a foreign land for four hundred years before being liberated (Genesis 15,13). G–d had also קרב קיסין, struck at Jacob with a piece of wood, causing the latter to limp as a result of the nocturnal encounter with the שרו של עשו, the guardian angel of Esau, to use the words of the Midrash. When Job had reflected on all this, he begged G–d's forgiveness for having spoken out rebelliously, and he excused himself by having been drunk. This is why it says in Job 19,4: “ואף אמנם שגיתי, אתי תלין משוגתי,” If indeed I have erred, my error stays with me overnight." All of this, because he did not realise the power of דין. So far the Midrash.